


Fanning the Flames

by thatOneWitchWhoUsesAPen



Category: One Piece
Genre: Brothers, Impel Down, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 05:12:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16056239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatOneWitchWhoUsesAPen/pseuds/thatOneWitchWhoUsesAPen
Summary: starts off with Ace imprisoned in Impel Down; Luffy is an idiot who has no idea what he's getting him self into, and Jinbei is trying to be a temporary uncle-figure to two very difficult kids playing at pirates.





	Fanning the Flames

**Author's Note:**

> Something I wrote a long time ago.. it's incomplete for now and depending on my mood or inspiration I may add more - probably not though :3

Ace suddenly jerked against the heavy sea stone chains. Dark eyes widened.

"L-Luffy?"

"Shi shi shi shi! I'm gonna break you out of there Ace! Just hold on a little longer."

 

This wasn't possible. They were on the deepest floor of Impel Down, the floor that most of the prisoners and even some of the guards in Impel Down didn't know about. Not even Whitebeard could break down the impenetrable barriers surrounding this damn hellhole.

Yet there was no mistaking it, the scar under his eye that Ace had grown so fond of, and the frayed yet sturdy straw hat that Luffy never let go of his head no matter how many thugs punched him, bobbing up on down on his brothers head with barely contained energy as Luffy pulled his arm back.

"Luffy, what the hell are you doing, you can't be here, if they find you-"

"GOMU GOMU NO-"

Ace's heart jumped as he realized what Luffy was about to do.

"Luffy, stop! Those bars are made out of concentrated seast-" He didn't have time to finish his sentence as Luffy's arm stopped short of the bars halfway through.

Ace strained against the chains, but they just dug in to his devil fruit skin and burned like hot iron. The collar around his neck closed around his already burned neck and constricted his windpipe. Ace gasped and fell back, wheezing.

The reason for Luffy suddenly stopping became clear as the kid doubled over and coughed up black goo. His face went purple and Luffy fell to the ground, his slender body overcome with spasms.

Ace stared in horror as more black goo spilled over, black specks spraying his face. He was mere inches from his little brother, which looked so small despite Luffy's lanky frame.

"So, even the great Fire Fist is capable of showing human expressions on his face. How amusing."

The owner of the familiar guttural voice that Ace had grown to despise so much stepped forward into his view, looking down at Luffy's shuddering body with detached disinterest. Ace growled at the hulking warden, eyes burning with hate.

The warden leaned down, holding Ace's chin with his larger than normal hands.

"Hmmm, but that annoying fire is still there in your eyes."

Luffy's body had finally stopped shaking. Ace breathed a sigh of relief which was shortlived as the warden dragged Luffy up by the string around the straw hat and stroked his eyes closed with one hand. To an outsider, it looked like he was merely caressing the child's eyes with love, but Ace knew better. There was no such thing as love in Impeldown. But that was okay, as long as it was Ace on the receiving end of the pain. Luffy was off-limits.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

"I can't stand children's eyes, did you know that, Fire fist? They're filled with all sorts of pure untainted emotions. Like hope" - one stroke . "Joy" - a second light touch. Ace struggled again, this time not caring that his neck would probably tear open if he moved any more.

Luffy wasn't conscious any more, that provided little comfort because Ace knew exactly what the warden was doing.

"There, all done. Guards." , the warden motioned with a hand. Two of the masked guards came forward and chained Luffy's poison-wracked body to the wall opposite to Ace's cell. Seastone cuffs snapped around his brother's purple veined wrists and feet.

The warden glanced once more in amusement at Ace's panicked face. "You refuse to be tamed even with our best methods, but let's see if your brother is made of the same steel as you are, Fire fist. You are blood brothers, after all." He disappeared into the darkness before Ace could respond.

Never mind, the snarky response he had for the warden could wait. He was more worried about Luffy, the normally sunny kid whose skin was riddled all over with indigo webbing veins, black goo dripping from his lips. But Ace knew that if- when Luffy woke up, the worst was yet to come.

 

All night (was it night, in this place he had lost his sense of night and day long ago), Ace couldn't even sleep as his dark eyes bored into Luffy, as if staring could somehow will Luffy into waking up. He couldn't stand to see that body that was always jumping around so still.

He didn't have to wait long.

Ace was almost giving in to slumber when a low moan jerked him into wakefulness.

"Ace? Wh-What happened?". Ace could only stare as he saw Luffy's body slowly come to life. Ace braced himself as Luffy opened his eyes.

"Ace? Are you there, I think there's no light in here. You'd think they'd have some kind of lighting in here, even if it's a prison, shi shi".

Tears brimmed in Ace's eyes. There was a lantern burning bright right above them. It wasn't dark at all. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry"

"What are you saying sorry for? Didn't I say I was gonna get you out of here big bro? "

Clank.

"Although that may be a problem, shi shi. These chains really are strong huh, no wonder even you couldn't get out".

Luffy's blank white eyeballs swivelled around, blinking as if trying to get a better view.

Hot tears spilled over as Ace hung his head. "You idiot ..." He couldn't even wipe his tears because his hands were chained. At least Luffy couldn't see them. The idiot who kept proclaiming that he was gonna be the greatest Pirate King and see all the wonders of the Great Blue would never see again.

"Really, Ace, are you there or am I talking to myself? A-"

Ace looked up suddenly as Luffy's chipper monologue was cut off and he began to scream. Luffy was trying to claw at his eyes in vain,

"IT BURNS!"

**************************************************

The screaming didn't stop. Seconds. Minutes. Hour by bleeding hour. Fuck, each hour felt like a month to Ace at this point. In the start he had tried to distract Luffy from the pain by talking to him, but he gave up on that strategy when it became clear that the kid couldn't even hear him through the screams.

The worst part was how they sounded. He couldn't block out the sound as tears formed and fell from those unseeing eyes, formed and fell, formed and fell. Pure, unadulterated screams that Luffy couldn't stop even if he wanted to. They were worse than the wails seven year old Luffy had let out when he was being mauled by the BlueJam pirates. Even at that gullible age, Luffy hadn't betrayed his and Sabo's secret through sheer childish stubborness.

_**"I see ... but I hate softies like you."** _  
_**"Im not soft! I'm strong!"** _  
_**"Strong? How are you strong? You're a man, but you're still crying!!"** _  
_**"Have you been punched by spikes before!!? I'm only seven! When I'm ten like you I'll be stronger and I won't cry!!!"** _  
_**"I'm gonna be stronger than anybody!!! I promised Shanks that I'm gonna be a great pirate!!!"** _

Formed.  
And fell.

Silence. Ace looked up dully. The screaming had gone on for so long it had become static in the back of his brain. Now that it was gone he blinked stupidly as if waking up from a stupor.

A sing-song voice rang out in the strange silence.

"Finally, that god-awful screaming is gone! If the shitty brat had gone on any further, I would have had killed him right there, plan be damned."

Ace blinked again. A heavy quiet hung between him and the tall figure standing between him and his kid brother, it's hand encircled around Luffy's throat. Ace coughed loudly, once.

The man turned around, clearly annoyed at being disturbed. Now that he was facing Ace, he could make out shaggy auburn hair and a faded prison jumper. Ace frowned in confusion, why was a prisoner roaming around free on the sixth floor?

The annoyance quickly turned to delight as the man leered at Ace, too close to his face for comfort. Ace felt a knot forming in his stomach, this didn't look good. The prisoner had a deranged look on his face. One of the loony ones.

"If it isn't the great Fire Fist Ace! My, it's an honour to finally meet Whitebeard's commander so upclose and personal! Name's Red. Although, we have met before, but I don't think a man so great as yourself would have noticed a lowly bandit like me, huh!?"

Ace wasn't listening anymore. He was more concerned about the boy behind Red. It was clear he was still in that unimaginable pain, but why had he stopped screaming so abruptly. Luffys eyes were still wide open, but quiet choking sounds came out now.

"Oi, oi, are you even listening to me, Commander Ace? " Red's eyes followed Ace's line of sight.

"Oh, this one. Don't worry, I only disassembled his vocal chords to stop those annoying screams. I mean, we don't want to go deaf, do we?"

"You bastar-" Ace's words were cut short as Red leaned forward and tugged the chain connected to his collar. Ace would have fallen to his knees gasping for breath if his hands were free.

The loony delight that had replaced the annoyance turned just as quickly into unmasked rage.  
"There, good boy, don't go spouting off now. You're not in a position to do that, in case you hadn't noticed."

Red squatted infront of him, holding the chain with one hand and ruffling Ace's hair with the other. Ace growled and tried to say something, earning him another yank. He glared up at Red, who was enjoying every bit of this.

"You damned Whitebeards, every last one of you, thinking you own the Grand Line or something. You wouldn't remember, but I remember it clear as day. The day your division killed my entire crew in one day."

Ace sighed inwardly. Great, another one of those psychos who were out for blood after tasting defeat at the hands of Whitebeard. They only attacked the bandits who tried to take over islands and towns, pillaging and raping their way through and leaving behind nothing but destruction and despair.

And this one liked to monologue, too.

"But I survived. I hid for months in your ship. Hell, I even overheard that Blackbeard planning something rotten right before your eyes. That was hilarious, to think even the perfect WhiteBeards had some black sheep hiding among them."

"And then... then I found my golden ticket out of that ship. A devil fruit. At first I didn't know what it did. Then I touched an idiot who had come wandering in alone to pick up a barrel of rum. His insides went all- "

Letting go of the chain, Red made bursting gestures in the air, adding cracking noises for added effect. It was a grotesque comedy.

"Well, this led to that, and eventually the whole ship was mine to command. All mine, all mine!", Red sang.

Ace's eyes widened in horror. He remembered now, a galleon had never returned from it's voyage. They had assumed the worst, and Ace had forgotten about it. Until now.

"You killed them."

Red was examining his dirty fingernails now.

"Oh, that doesn't matter now, great Commander! What matters is that I'm stuck in this pit. But there's hope! The say if I break this runt enough, I get promoted to guard duty!"

Red grinned and turned back to Luffy. Ace was held back by the damned collar for the hundredth time. Red held Luffy's face in his hands. Luffy was too out of it to even notice.

"No, don't. Pleas-"

"To see Fire Fist beggin' like that, who would've thought. Come on, beg more. Grovel like the dog you really are."

Red, touching Luffy's cheek, whispered , " Disassemble".

For a second, nothing happened. Then Luffy's body collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Ace couldn't breathe. This wasn't real, Luffy wasn't that weak. He wasn't that bag of bones on the floor. That was some one else. It had to be.

Red looked at Ace's clenched face. "Oh, get yourself together, Commander. He's not dead."

Red bent and touched the body again and this time said "Re-assemble".

Like some kind of ragdoll animated by wierd voodoo magic, Luffy's bones knit back together, leaving the boy curled up in himself.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

"Oops, I forgot to keep the voice box destroyed.. hm".

Ace was too shell-shocked to say anything. He couldn't do anything, anything to protect that curled up ball.

Red stood up, heaving a sigh.

"As fun as this little reunion has been, Ace, I have places to go."

No, he had to stop this lunatic. Somehow, he could break the seastone, even if it killed him. He had to get Luffy away from him, as far away as possible.

Red smiled, and for a moment it seemed like he was going to leave.

Yes, just leave, leave and don't ever come back. Don't touch my kid brother with those hands ever again, don't-

Red brushed aside Luffy's hair, whispering almost to himself this time. "What a pretty face though, I hate to destroy such a healthy young body... so much potential. What a pity you had to be related to a monster like Fire Fist."

And with that, he whispered one last farewell.

"Destroy."

Blood splattered the walls.

_**" He's the son of a demon, you know."** _

_**Ace was tired of resisting the voices telling him that he shouldn't exist. That he was a mistake. Now he almost believed them. Almost. He kept that little fire burning though, just enough to make it through another day.** _

_**" Where are you going today, Ace!!?"** _  
_**"Take me too! Lets be friends! "** _  
_**"Are you guys gonna be pirates!? So am I!!!"** _

_**Geez, that kid was so annoying, following him around everywhere like a lost puppy. A stubborn, roughed up puppy at that.** _

_**"If I'm around, it would be better? And if I were gone, it would be worse?"** _  
_**"Yeah."** _

_**The fire roared, growing larger than it ever had, getting more oxygen than it ever had before.** _

_**"If Roger had a kid? Gahahah, that'd be the worst!"** _  
_**"He would be someone who shouldn't have been born! A demon!"** _

_**Flicker.** _

_**"Do you... want me to live?"** _  
_**"!? Of course!!"** _

_**The fire burst into an inferno.** _

 

Black eyes stared listlessly as a frayed yet sturdy straw hat fluttered to the ground.  
The fire was dimming out. Of course, that was perfectly reasonable. Fire doesn't burn when the oxygen is gone.

*****************************************************

"Hey, hey. Easy with the cuffs there, boys. I'm not as young as I look."

The guards didn't bother to reply as they unceremoniously shoved the giant fishman into the cell and exited the floor.

Jinbei sighed as he took in his new surroundings. His scanning gaze stopped short on a huddled dark shape in the corner. The former shichibukai drew closer.

"Hey there."

No response. But he could hear low ragged breathing. So the shape lived.

Jinbei took one hesitant step forward, then another when the man gave no sign of resistance.

The former shichibukai had seen many horrors in his long life. But this took the cake. Someone had taken off what had evidently been level - 7 seastone cuffs from the man's wrists and ankles, but they had left their marks with deep red welts circling around his arms and legs, some of them blackening. Jinbei frowned, even seastone shouldn't leave those kinds of marks. Unless the prisoner in question strained against them. A lot. Just what motive did this guy have to have been so crazy as to do just that.

The man wasn't completely unchained though. A thick barbed collar had been left around his neck, and Jinbei had to fight back a physical cringe as he sat down next to the man, not wanting to startle him. He had been through enough, that much was obvious.

"Have a name?"

The man's eyes remained downcast.

"It doesn't matter what my name is. Not any more."

"Oh come now, I know Impel down isn't exactly a spa resor-"

"He's dead. Look around you, fishman. There's blood everywhere, are you blind?"

"Kid, these walls aren't the most hygienic, but I don't see any blood."

"Look, that hat there. Shanks gave him that hat, did you know?", he pointed in front of them.

Jinbei followed his direction, but-

"What hat? Boy, I don't see a thing. Are you sure you're thinking-"

Then realization dawned on Jinbei. Why hadn't he realized it sooner. He had seen these symptoms in hundreds of fishmen who had been former slaves, in that place.

He grabbed the boy's head, trying his utmost not to pull at the chain, and trying not to think about how little he resisted.

"Kid, look at me. Up here."

Blank eyes stared up at him.

Jinbei let go and sank back to the floor, his head in his hands. He should've known.

Nefari.


End file.
